All the scars and ridicule and heartache that generations went through with precious little to cheer is what makes our fans different from everyone else.

I find it a badge of honor. It is so easy to be born into a program that has won for decades before you were born and continued it, more or less until the present day, but it warps the appreciation of simply winning and how much work goes into it.

Some may pity our fan base. In reality, I feel some pity them. Hell, yes, I want titles and glory, but to do it without cheating, with a small state population, and with all the backstabbing we have suffered, makes any success like finding water in the desert. It sustains and invigorates. We can laugh at the storied programs that have a down year or two, knowing they could not begin to bear what we have born. Many years ago, a poster on an Auburn was discussing SEC fans and alluded to how staunch we have been with so little in return. He dubbed us "The Iron Fans" of football. Very astute.

I think we can now begin to look at USC football history as Before Spurrier and After Spurrier. The gap is that wide.

__________________"When I was young I looked like Al Capone, but I lacked his compassion." - Oscar Levant